Pupils were matched with their undergraduate mentors in a university access programme.

Three pupils in Year 10 from The Totteridge Academy in Barnet met their undergraduate mentors as part of United Access, a four-year scheme which aims to raise aspirations among pupils from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.

The residential programme was hosted and run by Caterham School in Surrey, and pupils joined their parents and carers and other students from schools in the United Learning trust to speak about how to apply for university and what comes next.

Martina Montecchiarini, project lead at United Learning, said: "We have had an extremely encouraging start to the programme and, following their first residential in July, it is clear just what an impact it has already had on students.

"As staff, we thoroughly enjoyed hearing about all the work that participants had done independently over the summer holidays, with the support of their university mentors.

"We now look forward to seeing them continue to develop in confidence and understanding as the year goes on as we approach the next residential at Caterham in the spring."